By Jamie Nye
The final week of the regular season is going to be very interesting.
While all six playoff teams have clinched, only one team enters the final week of the season knowing exactly what is ahead: Saskatchewan will host the Western Final.
Montreal and Hamilton both know they will host a playoff game, but it’s undecided which team will host the Eastern Final and Eastern Semi-Final.
Out west, if you want to run through all the playoff scenarios to decide which team finishes second or third, and which team crosses over to the east, you’re a braver soul than I am.
All I know is that the picture becomes clearer as the dominoes fall, but it could very well come down to the BC/Saskatchewan game on Saturday in the regular season finale before we know exactly what the bracket is going to look like.
OTTAWA AT HAMILTON
Friday, October 24
7:00 p.m. ET
TSN/RDS/CFL+
Hamilton knows that if they win on Friday, they clinch first place in the East. While Hamilton shares the same record as the Alouettes entering the final week, the Tiger-Cats won both games over the Alouettes this season.
Ottawa, meanwhile, plays out the season riding a five-game losing streak into its visit to Hamilton Stadium.
The Tiger-Cats should be focused and ready to polish off top spot in the division for the first time since 2019.
However, Hamilton has shown some blemishes recently. The Tiger-Cats have two blowout losses in their last three games, losing by 17 two weeks ago and 37 points four weeks ago.
Coming off a bye week, Hamilton will likely tinker with some personnel and schemes to look a lot sharper heading into the playoffs.
Who knows what Ottawa is going to throw at them in their final regular season game. You know they’ll come wanting to end the season by playing spoiler, but it’s rare to see a team already out of the playoffs be able to do that against a home team hungry for a win.
PICK: HAMILTON
CALGARY AT EDMONTON
Friday, October 24
9:30 p.m. ET
TSN/CFL+
The Edmonton Elks saw their playoff hopes fade away in Vancouver as the BC Lions were impressive in the second half to pull away from the feisty Elks.
This is another game you’ll be left to guess on how the Elks will respond at home knowing that they’ll be cleaning out their lockers the next day for the off-season.
Calgary, however, has awakened! The Stampeders looked like a team that had a strong start and were fading fast. But with two dominant wins over the Tiger-Cats and Argonauts, the Stampeders are looking to carry that momentum into a critical game against Edmonton.
The Stampeders need a win to clinch a spot on the West side of the bracket. A win combined with a BC loss can also give the Stamps the right to host the Western Semi-Final next week. (Editor’s note: As of this writing, the CFL is still looking at each scenario carefully, and will release the full, official Playoff Scenarios later in the week to confirm each team’s path to the post-season.)
Dedrick Mills looked like a man possessed against Toronto last week, while Vernon Adams Jr. didn’t have to do too much through the air to get the win, despite his three TD passes.
But the biggest area that we’ve seen the Stampeders improve in has been their defence. They are looking like the group that we saw come out at the start of the season and put the rest of the league on notice.
Edmonton will keep this close early, but we’ll see what type of roster Mark Kilam will go with to wrap up his first season with the Elks.
PICK: CALGARY
MONTREAL AT WINNIPEG
Saturday, October 25
3:00 p.m. ET
TSN/RDS/CTV/CFL+
The Alouettes will be watching in their hotel rooms as I predict the Tiger-Cats will clinch the division.
Then what does Jason Maas do? The Alouettes will have to declare their depth chart before knowing the outcome of the Tiger-Cats and REDBLACKS game, but will they fly some practice roster players with the team and possibly switch things up, like we saw the Roughriders do last year, when their game went from very meaningful to meaningless?
With the amount of hits that Davis Alexander has taken, I don’t see a reason the Alouettes would want Alexander out there for much of the game, if at all.
Now, if Ottawa shocks the CFL on Friday, all of these points are moot, and the Als will have something to play for.
Winnipeg still has an outside shot at staying in the West and avoiding the impossible task of trying to win two road games out East.
And if you’re a fan who believes the ‘easiest’ road to the Grey Cup for Calgary, BC and Winnipeg is to crossover, go check out your CFL history.
No team has made it to the Grey Cup as a crossover team. However, third in the division has made it multiple occasions.
The Bombers are mad. All reports indicate after last week’s win the locker room felt like a loss. I wouldn’t want to be the team who plays an angry Bombers squad with Brady Oliveira needing the ball more and Willie Jefferson coming for my quarterback.
My prediction rests at the hands of the Tiger-Cats. A Tabbies win and I’m picking Winnipeg. Hamilton loses and I’m all in on the Als.
PICK: WINNIPEG
BC AT SASKATCHEWAN
Saturday, October 25
7:00 p.m. ET
TSN/CFL+
After seeing that the Roughriders rested a lot of their offensive starters against Winnipeg, I expect we’ll see a mix of players staying ready in the Riders’ regular season finale knowing a bye week is ahead.
How long they play in the game is going to be a very interesting question we won’t know the answer to.
The bad news for the Riders is the BC Lions are likely playing for second and a home playoff game. The Riders have swept the season series thus far against the Lions, but Nathan Rourke has come alive over the last few months and could very well be the team the Riders are playing in two weeks in the Western Final.
But don’t sleep on the home team. As you found out last week, they are a deep squad with almost their entire roster having played meaningful snaps throughout the season to help this team capture first in the division.
I also see a much better Lions team than the one the Riders played last week in Winnipeg.
This is the game I’m the least confident in out of the entire week due to just how well that the Riders’ defence played in Winnipeg with players in and out of the lineup.
PICK: BC
